Cleaning machine



Jan. 3, 1928. 1,654,676

0. W. BRANTLEY ET AL CLEANING MACHINE Filed Nov. 24, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY Jan. 3, 1928. 1,654,676

0. w. BRANTLEY ET AL CLEANING MACHINE Filed Nov. 24, i923 2 Sheets-Swat 2 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 3, 1928. I

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE- OLIVER WILSON BRANTLEY, F JACKSON HEIGHTS, Am) WARNER moREL BRANTLEY,

or ELMH'UBST, NEW YoRK,Ass1eNo s TO CAREFUL GARPETCLEANING COMPANY, INcoRPoR TRm-oF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION on NEW YO K.

CLEANING MACHINE.

- Application and November a4, 1923. Serial in. 876,672.

The presentinvention relates to cleaning machines, and is particularly, exclusively, useful in connection with the machines for washing and scrubbing carpets,

' The general object of the invention is to provide a new and improved cleaning machine which will be capable of receiving and cleaning articles in a thorough manner and 1 with the minimum of manual labor. One of the particular advantages offeredby a cleaning machine embodying the present invention, resides in the fact that the articles tobe cleaned are carried thru the machine upon a conveyor without the employment of any clamps, tacks or similar means for holding the articles in place on the conveyor, which might injure the articles or might interfere with the cleaning of their entire surfaces. A

In carrying out the object and attaining the particular advantage above mentioned, the invention may be embodied in a machine of the kind hereinafter described, although I it is to be understood that this is merely illustrative and that such a machine may be modified in many respects without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cleaning machine embodying the invention; and Figure 2 is a plan view thereof, showing a rug upon'the conveyor about to pass thru the machine and be cleaned. In 5 both views, the same parts are referred to by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, the various parts of the cleaning machine are shown as supported by frame members of various V kinds which rest upon and are secured to the floor of the room in whichthe machine is located. One of the elements supported by said frame members is a conveyor 5; of any suitable kind, for example, of the type characterized by slats attached to belts or chains; but since the construction of this conveyor forms no part of the present invention, it need not be shown and 'described in detail. The conveyor .5, which moves in the direction indicated by the arrow, is shown as support ed at the intakeend of the machine by a roller or sprockets 7 journaled in bearings 8 mounted for horizontal, movement in the although not uppenends offrames 10 under the influence of ad u'sting screws 11 by means of which any desired tension on the belt may be ob- .tained. At its other .end, the conveyor 5 passes over and is supported by a driving roller or sprockets 12 journaled in bearings supported in brackets 14 which'are preferably integral with frames 15 secured to the Between the rolls 7 and 12, the conveyor belt 5 may be supported in any suitable manner, so as to permit its sliding movement.

In order to hold the rug or carpet stationary on the conveyor as the rug or carpet is passing thru the machine, and while it is being acted upon by various devices hereinafter described. a plurality of rollers are provided which yieldingly bear upon the surface of the rug or carpet and hold it" against the conveyor. One set of such rollers is shown mounted in frame members 17 and 18 at each side of the machine. The'lower roller 20 is jour'naled in fixed bearings in the frame members 17' and 18, and cooperates with the bottom side of the conveyor 5; while the upper roller 21 is mounted in bearings 23 slidable vertically in the frame members 17 and 18 and forced downwardly by springs 24 which may be put under tension by screws 25 in an obvious manner. The upper roller 21 thus yieldingly engages the top of the conveyor or the 'top of the rug or carpet carried thereby, and prevents the rug or carpet from slipping on the conveyor,

whilethe lower roller 20 serves to support the conveyor 5 at the point where it is pressed downwardly by the roller 21. Located a short distance away from the rollers 20 and 21, in the direct-ion of movement of the top run of the conveyor 5, are similar rollers 27 and 28 similarly mounted in frame members 29 and 30. 4

Located between the rollers 20-21 and 27-28, is the scrubbing element of themachine, which will now be described. As shown, this scrubbing element includes scrubbing brushes 32 and 33 which extend across the conveyor 5. The brushes 32 and 33 are journaled in opposite ends of arms 35 and 36 which are pivotedly mounted on a shaft 36' journaled in bearings supported by'pedestals 38 and 39 secured to the floor.

The brushes 32 and 33 are driven in opposite directions, thru pinions 40 and 41 and intermediate gears 42 and 43, from a common driving gear 44 secured to the shaft 36, the latter being driven from any suitable source of power such as a motor 46. The dimotions of rotation of the rollers 32 and 33 are as indicated by the arrows placed adjacent said rollers in Figure 1.; that is, the roller 32 brushes the rug or carpet in the direction in which it is moved by the conveyor 5, whereas the roller 33 brushes the carpet in the direction opposite to the direction of movement of the conveyor. The pivoted arms 35 and 36 may be limited in their movement in either direction by means of screw stops 46' threaded in lugs extending from the pedestals 38 and 39, thereby permitting adjustment of the operating positions of the brushes 32 and 33 with reference to the articles to be scrubbed. The arms 35 and 36' may be rocked in either direction and yieldingly held in either extreme position by means of a manually operable frame having cross bars 49 and .50 joined by end portions which are secured to collars 52 and 53 rotatable on the shaft 36. As will be clear from the drawings, the ends of the cross bar are extended so as to cooperate with lugs 55 and 56 in the tops' of the arms 35 and 36. In order to give the manually operable frame weight sufficient to cause it to hold the scrubbing brushes 32 and 33 in proper engagement with the articles to be cleaned, said frame may be weighted by means of iron balls 59 and 60, or in any other suitable manner.

It will be understood that the construction just described is only one of many that.

might be employed for the purpose of so supporting the scrubbing brushes 32 and 33 that they may be brought alternately into engagement with portions of an article to be cleaned which are supported by the conveyor; It will be noted that the direction of rotation of the brush 32 is such that it will not tend to scufi up the forwardly advancing edges of the articles to be cleaned, as

they are'fed to it by the combined action of the conveyor 5 and the rollers 20 and 21. It will also be observed that the direction of rotation of the scrubbing brush 33 is such that it will not scuff up the rear edges of articles to be cleaned as they are fed pastthe brush by the conveyor 5 and the rollers 27 and 28. It is apparent, therefore,

that scuffin up, by the scrubbing rollers, of either the ront or rear edges of articles to be cleaned, is prevented by so rocking the arms which support said brushes that the brush 32 never scrubs the rear edge of an article, and the brush 33 never scrubs the forward edge of an article.

Various auxiliary appliances may be used in combination with the machine so far described. In the nachine shown in the drawnesaeve ing, a spray pipe 62, preferably in two sections which are separately fed thru' pipes 63 containing valves 64, extends across the conveyor and serves to wet withwater or other fluid the articles to be scrubbed, before they pass beneath the roller21, Beyond the roller 21, is located another spray pipe 66, also preferably made in two sections independently controlled by valves 67, thru which a soap solution or other clean ing compound'may be applied to the articles just before they pass under the scrubbing brush 32. 0wing to the previous wetting of the articles by the spray pipe 62, the proper spreading on the articles of the cleaning solution delivered thru the spray pipe 66 is facilitated.

As the articles pass onward 'thru the machine, after being scrubbed by the brushes 32 and 33, a portion of the dirty soap solution or cleaning fluid may be removed from. the articles by means of a suction nozzle 70, preferably in two sections independently controlled by valves 71, which is supported above the conveyor in a position close to the upper surfaces of the articles carried thereported by brackets 73 extending from frame members hereinafter referred to. the suction nozzle is arranged a spray pipe or nozzle 75, preferably in two sections independently controlled by valves 76, by means of which rinsing water or other li uid may be applied to the articles, thls spray nozzle 75 being shown as supported on the bracket 73.

In the machine shown in the drawing, beyond the spray nozzle 75, rollers 80 and 81 are provided, one below and one above the upper run of the conveyor 5. The lower roller v8O is journaled in fixed bearings in frame members 83 at each side of the machine; and the upper roller 81 is journaled in bearings 84 movably mounted in the frames 83 and yieldingly forced downward towards the conveyor by springs 85 which may be put under any desired ten-' sion by means of screws 86. The'functions of the rollers 80 and 81 are to hold the articles to be cleaned in stationary contact with the conveyor 5, and to squeeze out of the articles a considerable portion of the rinsing water with which they are saturated by the nozzle 75.

In order. to remove from the cleaned articles as much moisture as possible before they are delivered'from the machine, a pair of wringer rollers and 91 are preferably arranged adjacent the delivery end of the conveyor 5. The lower wringer roller 90 is journaled in fixed bearings in a frame 15 Beyond 1 at each side of the machine: and the upper A bythe' springs 94, screws 95 being provided ,ior adjusting the tension on such springs.

The gap between the delivery end of the conveyor 5 and the bite of the wringer rolland 90-91 act as wringer rollers for the purpose of extracting moisture from the ar-' ticles being cleaned, the pressure which they exert upon the articles as they pass between said rollers is greater than the pressure executed by. the rollers -21 and 2827. It

is, therelore, desirable. that the rollers 80 81 and 9091 be positively driven at peripheral speed substantially e ual to the linear speed of the conveyor 5;; n example of gearing by means of which this may be accomplished is shown in F igure' 2- lln this figure, the shafts of the rollers 80 and 81 are shown as provided with meshing gears 101; and the shafts of the wringer rollers 90 and 91 are provided with meshing gears 102; while the shaltsof the rollers 81 and 91 are shown as geared together by means of sprockets 10d and 105 secured to said shafts and carrying a sprocket chain. 106.. Power for driving the rollers 90ll1 and 80-81 is obtained from the shaft 106' of the driving roller or sprockets 12 torthe conveyor, thru the me dium ot a gear 108 secured to said shaft 106 which meshes with the gear 102 on the shaft of the lower wringer roller 90. in this way, the conveyor 5 and the rollers 80-81 and @091 are all positively driven inunison from the driving shaft 106-, which may be provided with an idler pulley 110 and a fixed pulley 111 adapted to receive a driving belt 112 which extends to any suitable source of power, and may be shifted from one pulley rt and stop the machine, ianner, At the delivery rollers 90 and 91, a chute a? al a. to the .otier W s in a well-irnow side of the wringci 11 1'- may be provided for supporting the cleaned articles as they emerge from the wringer rollers.

In order to catch the water, soap, or other cleaning solution draining from conveyor and the articles carried thereby,- a drip pan 115 maybe arranged beneaththe conveyor and between the various side members upon which the parts oil the machine are mounted. As shown, the drip pan 115 is'provided with an outlet pipe 116 which may be led to the sewer or other point where the drippings from the machine may be disposed of.

The mode out operation or the machine will probably be understood from the foregoing description; When rugs or carpets having a width exceeding one-half the width of the conveyor are being cleaned, both valves in each pair ofvalves controlling the various spray pipes will be opened in order that the full width of the articles may be covered with the liquids applied to them. When,

however, rugs or carpets having a width of not more than one-half of the width of the conveyor 5 are being cleaned, only one of each of the pairs of valves 64, 67 71 and 76 is opened, thereby confining the action of the various nozzles to one-half of the width of the conveyor upon which the articles may be arranged at the entrance end of the machine. Unnecessary waste ot the cleaning fluids. is thus prevented; and the elliciency of the suction nozzle is n'iaintained, when narrow rugs and carpets are being cleaned.

Assan article to be cleaned passes beneath the spray pipe 62, it is moistened by water or cleaning fluid suppliedthereby; and the rollers 20-21 then spread the liquidover and work it into the article, at the same time holding the article from slipping on the conveyor, under the influence of the scrubbing brush 32 by which it is afterward treated; Before reaching the brush 32, the article is thoroly wet with the cleaning fluid supplied with spray pipe 66; and the brush 32 then scours the article as the conveyor 5 slowly carries it past said brush. After the conveyor has carried the forward edge of the article to be cleaned past the brush 32, the scrubbing mechanism may be tipped, in the manner hereinbetore described, so as to bring the brush 33 in contact with the article, and

the brush 32 out of contact with it. The I mainder of the rug or carpet as it is carried 0 forward by the conveyor. wing to the direction of rotation of the brushes 32 and 33,

no scuffing up out the toward and rearward edges of the article will occur. While the ressure of the rollers 27-28 ma revent some oil the dirty cleaning tluid from being carried on by the article being cleaned, much or said fluid will be carried forward, and the -majorportion. of it will be removed by the suction nozzle .7 0. The article is then sprayed with rinsing water supplied by the nozzle 75, after which the major portion of the rinsing water and cleaning fluid still remaining in the article being cleaned is removed by the wringing rollers 8:081 and 91. After being delivered from the inallll chine down the chute 11 i, articles are dried in any suitable manner, and may be submitted to any further treatments that.

' into and out of engagement with said article conveyor, and means and for simultaneously moving the other scrubbing brush out of and into engagement with saidarticle.

2. In a cleaning machine, a conveyor adapted to carry an article to be cleaned such as a rug, carpet'and the like, rollers spaced apart from one another above the conveyor and arranged to hold an article carried by the conveyor in stationary contact therewith, scrubbing brushes located above the conveyor in a spaced relation toeach other intermediate said rollers and rotating in opposite directions and adapted to act upon an article at portions thereof which are supported by said conveyor, and means for moving one of said scrubbing brushes into and out of engagement with said article and. for simultaneously moving the other scrubbing brush out of and into engagement with said article. y

3. lln a cleaning machine, a conveyor adapted to carry articles to be cleaned, means located above the conveyor for applying a cleaning fluid to articles carried thereby, oppositely rotating scrubbing brushes arranged to act upon the articles carried by the conveyor, the brush whose surface adjacent the conveyor moves in the same dinee revs rection as the conveyor beinglocated in ad- Vance of the other brush with reference to the direction otmovement of the conveyor, means for moving said brushes into and out of engagement with articles to be cleaned, and means cooperating with said conveyor for removing from articles carried thereby,

after the same have been scrubbed by the aforesaid brushes, the major portion of the cleaning fluid.

4. In a cleaning machine, a. conveyor adapted to carry, articles to be cleaned such as rugs, carpets and the like, pressure rollers spaced apart from one another above the conveyor and arranged to engage articles carried by the conveyor and hold them in stationary contact therewith, and rotary scrubbing means located between said pressure rollers and adapted to scrub'the portions of articles first presented to it in the direction in which said articles are traveling, and the other portions of such articles in the opposite direction.

Signed at New York city, this 22nd day of Nov., 1923.

OLIVER VHLSQN BRANTLEY. V/ARNER MUREL BRANTLEY, 

